


Tick Tock

by Meowser_Clancy



Series: Hotchahan Collection [3]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M, TW scenes of torture, fuck it that's their ship name now, hotchahan, kate x hotch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:02:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28184352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meowser_Clancy/pseuds/Meowser_Clancy
Summary: Sequel to Liar. PLEASE read that before you ask any questions. When Kate is taken by Kyle Zorgen, the team must work quickly to find her. A retelling of 10x23: The Hunt, where Hotch and Kate are in a relationship and Meg and Chris do not exist.
Relationships: Kate Callahan/Aaron Hotchner
Series: Hotchahan Collection [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2064642





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the sequel to Liar. You don't have to read that first but I do recommend it. If you haven't, this is basically a retelling of 10x23: The Hunt. Kate is not married and Meg does not exist. Part 2 of 2.

Kate rolled over in bed, feeling soreness all over her body. She'd done a killer workout with Morgan earlier that day and now she was feeling it in places she didn't even know she had places.

"Ugh," she said, and then rolled into something. She blinked a few times before realizing that it was Hotch's back.

"What's the matter?" He asked sleepily.

"Remind me to kill Morgan," she grumbled, sliding her arms around him and wincing. "God, am I sore."

He laughed and she felt the rumble from her face was pressed into his back. "I'll be sure to do so," he said, before rolling over to face her. She stared at him, how clear his face was even in the evening light.

"You look so good with stubble," she said, smiling as she leaned in to kiss him. He met her halfway, returning it with alacrity.

"This feels so good," he began. "So natural. I love being in bed with you, Kate."

"I love being in bed with you, Aaron," she said and loved the sound of his name on her tongue. "Aaron," she repeated and kissed him again.

"You should be going," she said, sitting up in bed. Her clock flashed: 7:32 p.m. "Jack's movie will be over soon."

"I suppose," he said, raising his arms above his head and looking at her; admiring her bare upper body. "I like this view of you," he said quietly. "I like how calm you look, how your face is untroubled. I like the faint smile on your face." He leaned up to kiss her. "I should be going," he agreed and got out of bed. She watched as he dressed and smiled when he caught her doing so.

"You look good in those jeans," she said. "You look good in anything."

"Thank you," he said modestly. "So do you."

"No, I don't," she protested. "I can think of several outfit styles that should never grace my body."

"Shh," he said. "Wear your skinny jeans tomorrow."

She smiled into his shoulder as he leaned to embrace her.

"Is that an official order from the boss?"

"Just a request," he said, brushing his lips over hers. She stretched her arms to grab him but he slipped away from her at the last second.

"You said I should leave first," he reminded and slipped from the bedroom. Kate sighed as she watched him go and finally got out of bed herself, pulling on a sweater and leggings.

"I need groceries," she remembered, speaking aloud as she looked into her near-empty fridge. "Let's think...eggs, cheese, avocado..." She trailed off in thought as she got a slip of paper to write her list.

She opened and closed cabinets, seeing what she had and what she didn't, when there was a knock on her door. She froze, looking at it and then down at her chest.

"Just a minute," she called, going into the bedroom and snagging a bra from her bureau, clipping it on and smoothing her shirt over it before looking through the peephole.

It was Bobby, her new neighbor. She hesitated another moment before cracking it open.

"Hey, Bobby," she greeted. "Was I being too loud?"

"No, I just got these tickets to a concert," Bobby said.

It took Kate a moment to realize that he was coming onto her and almost took a step back in surprise.

"I'm not available, for whatever you're thinking," she said. "I don't really date or anything. Sorry."

"No, not like that," Bobby protested. "I have an extra ticket, I've asked all my friends and no one wants it. We don't have to go together. God, I'm embarrassed now. It wasn't like that."

"I mean, I don't have much free time," Kate hedged again. "I can't really schedule things because my schedule is all wacky."

Bobby nodded. "Sorry for bothering you," he said.

"Yeah," she replied and shut the door, turning to lean against it in embarrassment. Would she ever stop being awkward and just always saying the weird, inappropriate thing? Yes, sometimes a laugh was good but sometimes a person should just shut their mouth. And sometimes, a person shouldn't jump to conclusions. Bobby had to be fourteen years younger than her. Of course he wasn't coming onto her.

She blocked the thought out as she walked back into the bedroom, grabbed some shoes and her wallet, when the phone on her bedside table chimed and she froze.

That wasn't her work phone.

Well, it was, but it was her fake work phone. It was the new number she'd received to investigate the ring of kidnappers that she'd first learned about last year with Parkett...her first case with the BAU.

And she'd only given that number to a small number of people. It made no sense for it to be ringing right now.

She walked forward and picked it up, reading the message that popped up on the screen.

**_It's not going to be so easy anymore, Agent Callahan._ **

She utterly froze, her heart suddenly beating in her ears.

 _ **Why do you say that?** _She replied, taking her other phone and started to dial Garcia's phone number when the next message came in.

_**I know about your sleeping with Agent Hotchner.** _

She felt a stomach ache begin. Oh god. She shouldn't have slept with him; she shouldn't have endangered his position in the FBI like that.

_**Why do you say that?** _

She typed again, and breathed in and out, trying to calm herself. For god's sake, she'd done this before, so many times. There was no reason to be nervous.

 _Come on, Kate. You're just playing a part,_ she tried to convince herself. _So play the damn part. But why does he know my name? What if it's someone in the BAU?_

She waited in tense silence for the next message to come in. It took a few minutes before the phone chimed again.

_**I have pictures of him leaving your apartment.** _

She breathed out a sigh of relief. _**He leaves a lot of people's apartments.  
**_

 _ **Not in the early morning,**_ the reply came back faster than lightning. **_Yes, I can get proof if that's what you want. But you and I already know that you are sleeping with him, Agent Callahan. You're sleeping with the boss. Why, this compromises your position in the Bureau, doesn't it? And his.  
_**

 _Why did I risk Hotch?_ She wondered to herself before a sudden thought occurred to her and she turned the phone over in her hand. Quick as a wink, she removed the sim card and just stood holding it in her hands for a moment. She wanted to flush it down the toilet. She wanted to crush it with her pointiest pair of high heels. _Why did I have to risk Hotch, of all people? Why do I have to ruin things like this?_

She turned and dropped the sim card on the bed, determined to deal with it later, and charged from her apartment and down to her car, not looking right or left but keeping her gaze straight ahead. Her face felt hot to her own senses and she wondered if she had enough control of her facial tics to go out like this and not have people notice how out of control she really felt.

She went to the grocery store in a daze, wondering what she'd do next. Whatever she'd imagined happening, whatever the worst case scenario she'd dreamed up, none of them had matched the horror of this. She'd taken on the kidnapping ring with one clear goal in mind...

And now everything was messed up. And she didn't even know who the texts were from. _This is why you don't get involved with the boss,_ a voice in her head warned.

And before she could stop herself, she reached for her (work) phone and composed a text. She felt like the hugest coward for doing it but she couldn't chance Hotch coming over to surprise her or anything like that.

 _ **We have to stop this,**_ she began, her heart thudding so loudly she wondered if the people around could hear it before dismissing the thought as pure nonsense. **_I love what we've had but we have to end it. When I come into work on Monday, we're done. I'm handing in my resignation._**

And lastly she added, with words that broke her heart the most, _**This was a mistake. This whole thing.**_

She sent the message and felt like her heart stopped in the next few moments. She was sure that Hotch had his phone on him, (he always had it on him, no exceptions) and now it was just a matter or time.

 _Tick tock. Tick tock._ She could hear her watch tick the time away and then Hotch's reply came in.

**_What happened?_ **

_**Nothing happened. I just realized how wrong this was. I'm sorry.**_ She typed the words and hit send, and then turned her phone off before continuing shopping.

There. It was done. He'd be safer now. She'd finally done something right.

So why did she feel like this was the stupidest thing she'd ever done?


	2. Chapter 2

The day started too soon. Kate had spent the day before desperately ignoring Hotch's questions and dodging everything he sent, not responding again except to say, **_Don't come over. Please. Just don't._**

She wondered how he was handling it...she wondered if he actually missed her and wasn't just wondering why she was acting bonkers so suddenly.

But surely, it wasn't that much of a stretch that she'd break it off? After all, a relationship like this could endanger the entire unit if Hotch were fired because of it. Surely, he could think of it as just Kate coming to her senses before it was too late.

They'd only been...seeing each other for a few weeks now. Of course it made sense to break it off before they got anywhere; before it hurt more than it already did.

Last night, it had taken all of Kate's willpower to not go to a bar and drown herself in alcohol, or to a drugstore to buy ten cartons of peanut butter fudge ice cream.

It had taken all of her willpower to not go running to Hotch, confessing everything that had happened. Even now, she knew that the best thing would be to show everyone the texts and let them find the bastard.

But he knew about Hotch. And Kate couldn't do that to him. She couldn't let his whole job be endangered just because she'd made an idiotic move; because she had let him be caught doing something he shouldn't have.

She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, knowing that she had to go into the BAU today and have the hardest talk of her life. It took a long time but she finally got out of bed and headed for the shower, turning the water to scalding and hopping in, hoping to burn away her feelings of regret and embarrassment and sadness.

God, she wanted Hotch. She didn't want to give him up, but she knew that that was why she had to.

* * *

'Bobby' checked his watch, leaning against one wall of the parking garage. It was close to 8:45, and the FBI whore would be leaving soon to go to work. All he had to do was play his part and he'd be taking home one big catch to Alex.

He couldn't wait. He was so excited to finally show Alex that he was man enough to truly be part of this organization. Before now, he'd just been a stooge; a pretty face and nice body. He was the face of their organization to the women they kidnapped, but he still just played a minor part.

What 'Bobby' wanted was to be the one messing with their victims after they were caught and before they were sold. He wanted to make them beg, he wanted to see the looks on their faces when they saw that _he_ was the one in charge of their fate, and not Alex.

He wanted the power...but without the responsibility. Alex could still take that end of their business.

'Bobby' straightened when he saw the elevator open and Kate Callahan hurry out, dressed very professionally in blue slacks and a lighter blue dress shirt with a matching blue jacket. She looked ten times more polished than she had in all of the weeks he'd been watching her and he immediately knew something was off.

Surely Alex hadn't broken their deal and clued her into it yet, had he?

And yet, 'Bobby' looked at how Kate's face was heavily made up, but not enough to cover that her eyes were swollen. Had she broken up with the BAU boss?

He stepped forward. "Kate!"

She whirled on the spot, her eyes a bit wild and panicked before seeing that it was him.

"Bobby!" She exclaimed, looking extremely relieved.

"Are you okay? I mean, you look way too surprised and relieved to realize it's me," he replied.

She tried to fake a laugh. "Yeah, um..."

"Did you think I was someone else?" He asked. "Did you and your boyfriend fight?"

"He really wasn't...my boyfriend," she said. "Not quite. Not a boy, definitely. Um. Yeah, you could call it a fight."

"You were afraid I was him," he replied. "Gotcha. Sorry for sneaking up on you. I just need a bit of help."

"Doing what?" She asked, still standing more than a few steps away from him, and her body was stiff.

"You have thinner arms than I do," he explained. "I dropped my phone down one of the grates in here. Like, I can see it, but I just can't reach it. I think you would be able to, though."

"Oh!" Kate exclaimed. "I'm running kind of late."

"You're my last chance," he explained. "Where else can I find someone with thin arms at this hour? Most everyone else has left already." He put a pleading look on his face, hoping that his good looks would soften her heart and lower her guard in the process.

"Okay," she said. "Which grate?"

He led her over to the wall and around the corner. This was the only place that the security cameras didn't reach because there was no parking space here.

"Down there," he pointed and she put her bag down to reach for it. It was then that he struck, raising his hand and bringing it down to her head...but she turned, just in time, to shriek and roll out of the way.

"What the hell?" She gasped, but knew enough to sense that she was being attacked. "Bobby, I am FBI," she said, crouching in the corner, in clear fight mode. "If you rape me, you will be in huge trouble that you will not be able to get out of with money or good looks or anything else you have up your sleeve."

"That's not my goal, bitch," he responded, and darted forward.

There was nowhere for her to go; he was a large man and the space was small. Still, she tried diving between his legs.

It was a mistake. He grabbed her by the hair and yanked her up, whipping her neck back in the process.

"Don't fight this, baby," he murmured. She swung her legs and managed to nail him in the crotch and he started to crumple before recovering himself. He headbutted her in the face and she gasped.

"Don't leave marks," he muttered, shoving her into the wall and thought he heard something crack.

"What are you doing..." She asked, her voice trailing off in pain. "Why do you want me?"

"Revenge, baby," he said, and this time when he struck, she went out cold, going limp in his arms.

He stared down at her body in satisfaction. She had a trickle of blood on her face but Donna could take care of that before they posted pictures of Kate online.

'Bobby' looked down at her, imagining her in one of the outfits they had on hand.

She would look amazing in a thong...no, that showed too much skin. The buyers wouldn't spend as much because they'd already have so much in just the picture.

Maybe a tight dress. That would be good.

'Bobby' headed for the car, keeping Kate at his side carefully enough so that it looked like he was just helping her along at his side.

He left the parking garage and sped out of town to an abandoned house. There, he switched cars and checked Kate's bonds before taking off her jacket and shirt, baring her arms to him.

He looked in the glove compartment; there it was. He grabbed the needle and injected it into her arm before putting her shirt back on and arranging her in the front seat next to him. He put a blanket over most of her and then went to his own seat.

If anyone saw them, she'd merely look like his wife or sister, snoozing on a road trip.

He turned the radio up, high, opened the windows and pulled back out onto the highway, singing along to his favorite song and never looking at the woman next to him.

He didn't have to because she never stirred. The drug had taken quick effect, as he knew it would. She'd be out for hours...until they reached Alex.

Then she'd wake up.

* * *

Hotch had to force himself to not stand up and check if Kate was there yet. He'd spent a frantic night wondering what had happened in that short time he'd last seen her. Who or what had made her act like that?

He couldn't understand her decisions at all. Maybe she was, out of the blue, regretting their relationship, but Kate was not the type of person to dance around things or to send break up messages via texting.

She was forthright and honest. He couldn't believe that it was her but he had called and called again last night and she had never picked up. So it had to be her because otherwise, why would she be avoiding his calls?

He'd considered going over to her apartment before work to see how she was but had convinced himself not to. She'd said she'd be at work the next day; to hand in her resignation but Hotch would be damned before he let that happen. And he'd be damned if he let her _try_ to do that without talking to her, without making sense of this decision.

He finally gave up on not checking, standing up and looking out of his window. She wasn't there. It was half past 9, and she still wasn't there.

It was then that his phone chimed and he turned to pick up his phone, wondering who was texting him.

The one word on the screen chilled him to his bones.

**_Pepper._ **


	3. Chapter 3

JJ was in her office when her cell phone chimed. The expectant mother picked it up, her protruding stomach bumping into her desk as she did so. **_Go to the round table room ASAP._**

She frowned at the message, wondering what he wanted and why he didn't have someone gather the team manually. She pushed back her chair easily, but got to her feet with no little effort.

Pregancy was different seven years ago. This time around, she had had constant back aches since month six.

"What does Hotch want?" JJ said, poking her head out of her office to see that Morgan, Rossi and Garcia had fallen suit by leaving their individual offices/lairs. Reid was standing up in the bullpen, looking down at his cell phone as he headed for the round table room.

"Pen, is there a case?" JJ asked the goddess of information as Garcia hurried through the bullpen on sky-high heels.

"It hasn't come across my desk," Penelope Garcia panted. "But Hotch's message said hurry."

"Hey, Spence," JJ called to the other fount of information that graced their team. "Do you know why Kate is late?"

Reid shrugged. "Traffic was really good this morning, so let's hope she has a good excuse for Hotch since his message to us all obviously brooked no lateness. Maybe he knows she's late and sent her straight to the airport." He shrugged, his long hair fluttering around his head.

They settled into their seats in the round table room, waiting patiently for Hotch's entrance.

When he did finally enter, Mateo Cruz was behind him.

"What's up, Hotch?" Morgan asked, his calm facade becoming troubled when he saw their Section Chief behind Hotch.

"I'm sure all of you have noticed that Kate Callahan hasn't joined us yet," Cruz began.

"Does that have to do with this?" JJ asked. "Has something come up and you needed Kate off investigating? Is she already on her way to the airport?"

"One question at a time," Cruz said.

"And why are you taking charge, Matt?" JJ continued before having the grace to lok abashed as Hotch cleared his throat.

"Kate sent me a message this morning," Hotch said. "Which one of you can guess what it said?"

There was dead silence in the room as the profilers pondered the odd question. Hotch's face was drawn and Cruz behind him was rubbing his hair back like he had a headache.

"Oh god," Penelope said. "Pepper." She had a terrified look on her face as Hotch grimly nodded.

"You nailed it, Garcia," he said, his voice very low.

"Pepp-" Rossi began to mouth to Morgan before the conversation from a few weeks before flooded into his mind. " _Cavolo_." He noticed Penelope's quizzical look. "It means-"

"It basically translates to holy shit," Reid said matter of factly. "Which sums up this moment. Do we know what happened?"

"I know that you are probably thinking that it's safe to say that her abductors were part of the kidnapping ring she's been investigating, but let's not discount anything yet. Anderson is off getting surveillance footage from Kate's apartment building for Garcia to go over," Hotch said. "Now for the hard part. I will not be officially in charge of this investigation; that's why I have Cruz with me." He puffed out a breath of air as he chose his next words very carefully.

"Why?" Morgan asked, too impatient to wait. "I mean, I know the whole distance yourself thing, but Kate is family. We did this for JJ, and Reid."

"I wasn't in a sexual relationship with JJ or Reid at the times of their abductions," Hotch said flatly. The look on JJ's face was utterly comical as she stared at their usually stoic Unit Chief.

"And you were with Kate?" Garcia squeaked.

"Something you would definitely need to know since you'll be the one going over the security footage," Hotch said. "Anyone else?"

The room again fell silent. Rossi raised an eyebrow at Morgan. "Pay up," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"For god's sake, you bet on it?" Hotch exploded as Reid moved to take something from his bag.

"Wrong time to admit that," Rossi said.

Hotch massaged his forehead. "Dating a subordinate is not something that I normally recommend but it happened. Sunday night, Kate ended things for no apparent reason via text messaging. I messaged back. She ignored me but said that she was coming in today to give me her resignation." He saw the look on Reid's face and sighed. "Completely of her own volition. I would never have required it of her. I...obviously, Kate is not here yet. Ten minutes ago, I received this message."

"Pepper," Garcia said, her voice quiet.

"Exactly," Hotch said.

"The first thing to do is trace the phone, then," Garcia said, moving to stand up but Hotch shook his head.

"It's been tried," Hotch said wearily. "Her abductor must have noticed it and taken out the Sim card. This is the point where I have to step back. Cruz will be handling it from hereon out."

"Okay, team," Cruz said quietly. "We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Rossi and Reid, I'd like you two to go to Kate's apartment and investigate there. Hotch suggested, and I agree, that this is related to the kidnapping ring Kate has been investigating. She probably got too close. There will be information about that at her apartment, I'm sure. JJ and Morgan, for now I want you two to just investigate the kidnapping ring closer. Trace sales and suspicious money. I know that you, as a team, collected basic information from Kate a few weeks ago. Now it's time to put all of that together. Garcia, you and Gina will be going over the security footage."

He looked around at the team, who were all already beginning to stand up and get ready.

"I'll bring the files in here," Morgan told the heavily pregnant JJ. "You can wait for me here."

"What about you two, sir?" Garcia asked Cruz.

"We'll be in Hotch's office," Cruz said, and opened the door, holding it so that Rossi, Reid and Garcia could leave quickly. "Come on, Aaron."

* * *

Kate knew that she was running out of time. They had been driving for a while now, at a steady pace. If she had to hazard a guess, he was driving her out of the city.

She'd be willing to get that she'd be drugged here, sooner or later, and he was just waiting for a better moment. She would also be willing to bet that he would be switching cars soon.

Slumped in the front seat next to him, with the blood running down her face already beginning to dry, Kate knew that she had preciously few moments to cobble a plan together. At this point, she was lucky to be cognizant, considering what a blow she'd taken. She knew that, in her state, running would be absolutely futile. When she had been fully alert and prepped, it had been futile. So now she had to think, use her brain instead of her brawn.

Hotch. The word came to mind immediately and she almost dismissed the thought as sentimentality. Then she realized how stupid she was being.

She had been stupid the night before too. Or proud, more likely. Of course the BAU would be able to take on anything thrown at it. The first order of operation last night should have been to take the phone into Garcia and have her track it, no matter how much it scared Kate to think of the team knowing about her and Hotch. She realized how foolish she'd been. The team was like a family, who loved and respected the other members. None of them would have judged her harshly. They would have been excite to finally have a lead, for Kate now realized that the texts must have been from Bobby, or others associated with him. Bobby had been stationed in her building for just such an opportune time.

What an easy target she must have made. The girl straight from undercover work way over her head in that BAU, even with a case that should have been right up her alley.

Kate barely cracked open eye open, seeing the suburbs and finally rural land. She probably only had a few minutes left before Bobby switched cars and drugged her for a longer drive.

Her hand, limp in her lap, accidentally bounced out when he went over a bump. Her hair swung in front of her face as her neck went limper.

Her phone was in her pants pocket.

She tipped towards him on a fast curve; shoved her hand into her pocket and it was back, limp next to her, before she swung back into place.

She thought hard to think in what order she'd have to press the keys on her cell phone to send a message to Hotch, before moving her hand to mute the volume. Thank god hers wasn't a model that insisted on playing the ringtone volume when you turned it to silent.

She then pressed the menu button, the up button and hit enter. Her first contact was Hotch. She hit enter again and composed her message.

This, at least, was a no-brainer. She typed _**Pepper**_ and hit send. The next time Bobby went over a bump, her cell phone was replaced in her pocket and she turned it off to be safe. She didn't want Bobby checking the messages later and seeing the last she'd sent, and if her phone was already off, he might just cast it aside altogether.

She thought of Quantico, of the BAU, and wondered what Hotch did upon receiving the message.

She could almost picture the team gathering.

Almost.

And, as she thought that happy thought to keep herself sane, Bobby did indeed switch cars and Kate winced when she felt a needle being stuck in her arm.

And then she knew no more. She sank into blissful darkness, until the time that she'd awake to see Alex Zorgen staring at her.


	4. Chapter 4

David Rossi took almost no pleasure in the fact that he was inside Kate's apartment, even though it meant he was in a place he'd never been before. Intensely private from years of undercover work, Kate rarely entertained.

Rossi had a deep fondness for all of the female members of the team, from Garcia, to Emily, Ashley and JJ, Alex to Kate. He passionately tried to help them as much as he was needed to, for, at one time or another, all of them had needed the support of the BAU as a whole, and individually.

Rossi adored Kate. He adored her feistiness and the look of disgust that appeared on her face when he told her yet another Rossi anecdote usually involving things slightly illegal. At least at the time.

As Rossi stood in the foyer of her apartment, he felt a deep anger towards the people who'd messed up her life like this. The young agent did not deserve this kind of shit. She'd finally moved beyond fearing for her safety at every corner at her move from undercover work to profiling. She had deserved that open spot on the team, if only for all the years of service in hell she'd done in Andi's unit, catching the worst offenders one could think of, putting her life on the line to get one more bad guy behind bars.

And she loved doing it. She loved knowing that she'd made their future victims safe from them. She loved putting just one more creep behind bars. This was what she was good at.

The quietness of her life stared at Rossi as he went through her apartment, picking it apart. She lived simply; after years of being deep undercover, it had rubbed off on her and now she lived as if she were ready to pack up at a moment's notice.

Rossi hoped that that moment never came again to SSA Kate Callahan.

* * *

Reid felt a distinct absent presence from Kate's apartment; the woman's own. He mourned the fact that the perky owner of the flat wasn't there to supervise him as he worked, and he could easily picture her gently coaxing him away from private things and to the important items that would help the team to locate her.

He started in her bedroom, and had to force himself to treat the things there like he would any other victims' items. He reached her bookshelf and was surprised to see at least fifteen years' worth of journals on her shelf, all filled to capacity with years of experiences written in her neat handwriting.

The most recent one on the shelf ended December 31, 2014. The newest one wasn't there, so he turned to the bedside table and there was an easy score: her most recent journal sitting on top, open to a page with a pen left on top as if she'd been writing and simply been called away.

He picked it up, his hands sliding over the smooth pages.

He couldn't help but read the most recent entry.

The words jumped out at him. Hotch and Ihave been discovered. My heart is breaking right now because I had to tell him goodbye and not explain anything. I feel so troubled and afraid. This is worse than anything I've ever done before.

Why did I bring Hotch into my mess of a life?

Reid dropped the journal like it was hot, before he noticed that the drawer was slightly open. He pulled it open all of the way and saw a cell phone sitting inside the drawer, a phone he'd never seen her using before. For one thing, it was a prepaid phone.

And the Sim card was out of it, sitting in the corner of the drawer like it had been thrown.

Reid immediately had a bad feeling about the whole thing.

* * *

Garcia sat at her desk, watching the footage of Kate being beaten and wincing. Her attacker had managed to steer her to the one corner of the parking garage that the security camera didn't quite reach, and it was a matter of watching what happened before and after.

Garcia saw a tall, muscled man approach her. She saw them talking and the nervousness of Kate's movements. Was she on guard because of him or because she was preparing to leave for work and handing in her resignation to the man she'd been sleeping with?

Garcia wasn't sure what to think about that. She could hardly fault Kate for being attracted to Hotch, since the man was the epitome of tall dark and handsome. She'd already gone through the footage and received one grainy image of Hotch and Kate embracing before he left for work early one morning.

They looked good together.

From going through the list of recent tenants, Garcia knew that Kate's attacker's name was Bobby Hallows. She paused at the best image of him, and zoomed in. It was still a crappy photo but it was enough to feed to her processor and see if he appeared in any other of the tapes, which would speed up this process tenfold. And then she could feed the best image out of those to the offenders database.

Penelope Garcia loved technology, not because it made her life easier, but because it made finding people simpler. With any luck, Garcia would have nailed this bastard in 24 hours.

Maybe Kate could be home before a day was out.

Garcia brushed away the immediate, negative thought that whispered no. Because right now, she simply had to believe that her friend was coming back, and it was up to Garcia to make sure it happened as quickly as possible.

* * *

Morgan regretted ever letting the kidnapping ring slip his mind. Yes, he'd made Kate tell him and the team everything about her investigations, but why had they taken it so lightly? As just another thing to do, and not the most important thing they could do at that moment?

Why hadn't he noticed how close she was to being discovered by the very people she was investigating? Why hadn't he seen how much danger she was in? How many times would it take before Derek Morgan could finally his nose in front of his face and see how much trouble his team was in?

Why the hell was this always happening? First Reid, Emily, then JJ, then Kate. All because no one looked closely enough at all of the facts and made sure to stop bad things before they started and gained momentum.

Derek Morgan sorted through grisly information regarding years of victims, JJ at his side, both of them silent except when they had something to add to the investigation.

He was going to nail this bastard. The realization hit him even harder when he discovered yet another female victim with characteristics simlar to Kate's: brunette, brown eyes, olive skin and a curvy body.

Yes, they were being sold to all sorts of creeps but it had to mean something that there were more brunette victims with a curvy body type than blonde or other, with athletic or slim body types. It meant that the men doing the dirty work had types.

And that they didn't mind getting those types instead of just any woman. And that, Derek Morgan knew, made UnSubs that much easier to naill. To catch them and slam them into a jail cell, never to see the light of day again.

At least, not from outside of a cell.

* * *

JJ was having flashbacks. All she could think about was when she was taken by Askari's men last year, on a cold day in February. She felt real, tangible pain in her stomach and she pressed her hand there, where the scar was. She had been so thankful for the pregnancy, because it was changing the landscape of her stomach. Yes, the scar would always be there but it would never look the same.

It was a sign of Askari losing one more item of control over her.

But now, all she could think of was him. Askari and his cruel face.

All she wanted was to make sure that Kate didn't have to go through what she did in those days of torture. She wanted to stop this ring of men from ever catching anyone else. She never wanted to have to do this again, going through auction sites and trying to find the scumbag jackpot, as Garcia would call it.

She was combing through layers of filth, trying to find the light at the end of this tunnel and knew that it would be when she caught these men and made sure all of the auction sites were closed forever.

She again was hit by a flashback to when Askari plunged her into water. She could remember how hard it was to breathe, even after she was above water again. She remembered the utter terror of the whole experience and wanted to cry when she thought of anyone she knew having to go through that.

She knew what happened to serial killers' victims. She didn't want Kate to become one of them. She didn't want to find her body in pieces, mangled beyond recognition according to the madness of whatever sick bastard bet the highest.

Kate would go for a lot. They'd list her as FBI so that the men knew what exactly they were getting: a chance to put law enforcement in their place. Whoever got her would take extra pains to make every second of pain last as long as posssible as they replaced her face with whatever police officer they hated most.

And Kate would suffer, suffer until she gave up and let death take her with his dark, welcoming hands.

JJ wasn't aware that she'd cried out until Derek shook her shoulder, his eyes almost wild with concern as he looked at her.

"Are you okay? Labor pains?"

"No, no," JJ gasped. "Nothing like that. Just...nightmares. Remembrances."

Derek saw the look on her face and she knew that the older agent knew exactly what she was talking about. She couldn't help but lean into him, and let his arms slip around her in a brief hug.

"I can't help but remember Askari," she whispered, her voice broken.

"Do," he said fiercely. "Because we're going to nail this bastard just like we nailed Askari."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Scenes of torture. They're pretty rough.

When Kate woke up, she was in the dark, all alone.

Her arms were high, hands chained together above her head.

And then there was light. And a person, walking towards her.

Her vision, for a moment, refused to focus, and then finally, the man became crystal clear in front of her.

Kate shuddered inside to see him.

Cruel.

"Hello, Kate," he purred, reaching out with one hand to touch her face.

She flinched away from his touch but he just laughed and grabbed ahold of her chin, forcing her to look at him as he examined her. "I've been looking forward to this," he whispered. "An actual, honest-to-god FBI whore right here in my clutches." He smiled at her. "I never thought I'd see the day," he whispered, his voice trailing off.

She was dreading the next moments, wondering when, and not if, she'd feel his hands on her legs. Wondering when he'd attack her and rape her and leave her empty.

He brought his face closer to hers. "I'm going to taste you now," he said, and she, against her better instincts of playing on his good side so that she could try to get away, spat in his face.

He flinched, jumping backwards, wiped the spittle off of his face and stared at her. "You're feisty," he grunted. "You'll pay for that."

With that, he punched her right ear, sending her swinging on the chains. Kate cried out and then there was a sound of a door opening.

"Dad," Bobby said, stepping in.

"What the hell do you want, Kyle?" The man swore.

"I did this all by myself," Bobby-turned-Kyle said. "I did everything you told me. You cannot do this to her."

"I have been waiting so long for this," the man answered. "Don't think I'm going to let you have my plaything."

"Can I watch?" Kyle asked and the man turned cold eyes on him.

"Alex, just let him."

Kate froze when she heard the female voice. Good god.

A woman appeared at the top of the basement stairs, her arms folded over her chest nervously. "He's right, he did all the work."

Alex stared at the woman. "Donna, get the hell out of here. I have told you to never interfere."

Donna nodded. "I know and I'm sorry. But let Kyle have his fun too."

Alex just looked at her until she ducked her head and hurried back up the stairs.

"Come on, dad," Kyle said. "Let me have some fun this time, too."

* * *

Kate tried to concentrate, after. They had left her down there alone, even sending Donna down to clean her up.

She felt so dehumanized it was paralyzing, but she had to...she had to do something. Try something. Escape.

She had to escape. She had to get the hell out of here, the hell away from Alex and his son Bobby. No...no. She shook her head, trying to clear it. Kyle. His name was Kyle.

She swung her feet to the side and felt around to see what was there.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

The door creaked open and Donna crept down the stairs, holding a camera in one hand and a sexy outfit in the other.

"Um, they want me to do this," she said.

Kate could have attacked her. But she knew that it would merely result in Kyle or Alex coming down so she let Donna do it.

"Why did they send you?" She asked, her voice soft.

Donna froze.

"Donna, you don't have to do this," she whispered, her voice raw. "If you help me escape, I can help you in return."

"Shut up," Donna said, her voice fierce. "Just don't talk to me."

Kate fell silent as her clothes were removed and Donna dressed her up in a mini dress with a halter neck.

"You don't have to let him treat you like this," Kate tried again. "Or your son. He's your son, isn't he? Isn't Kyle?"

"Maybe," Donna said, turning a light on and Kate flinched away from it.

"My fellow FBI agents will be looking for me, Donna," Kate continued. "They will find me, and they will find you...and they will find Kyle."

Donna's hands shook as she continued to set up lights around Kate.

"I can help," Kate said again. "You won't go to jail for Alex's crimes."

"I was an accomplice," Donna said dully. "I've helped him...do...this so many times now."

"He psychologically conditioned you," Kate said. "It's not your fault."

"Kyle did it willingly though," Donna said. "And there's no way you can promise that you can get him off."

Kate hesitated and it was a mistake. Donna shook her head.

"As long as my son is in danger, I will not let you go," Donna said.

"Is Kate ready for us?" Alex said and Donna almost dropped the camera.

Her captor, and the father of her son, stood at the top of the stairs. Donna watched him come down with utter helplessness in every one of her motions. She shrunk away from him.

"Don't go, Donna," Alex said, grabbing her shoulder and yanking her back over to Kate. "You're the photographer, don't forget that." He leered at Kate. "I just want to watch."

* * *

Kate went out of consciousness, she was pretty sure, for awhile after that. When she awoke again, she was being taken down from her chains.

"You've been sold, pretty girl," Kyle said, his voice excited. "God, there was a huge bidding war over a real FBI agent. And her own gun and badge...you're the best sale we ever made, Kate."

"Don't do this to me," Kate said, her voice breaking from lack of water.

"Why not?" Kyle asked. "Damn but I'll miss you. It's too bad that I never got my own turn but at least I got to watch."

She felt his hands on her breasts and flinched away from him, leaving him laughing. He hauled her up the stairs and left her in one of the kitchen chairs up there.

"You got the car ready?" He called and left the room to hear Alex's answer.

And then Donna appeared in the doorway, looking terrified.

"Donna," Kate said, her voice full of panic. "This is my last chance. Please help me."

"I can't," Donna said, shaking her head but there were tears in her eyes. "Please don't ask me to do something that I can't. They'd kill me. Worse, he'd kill Kyle."

"Donna, I'm going to my death," Kate hissed. "Law enforcement will not go easy on you if you let this happen. But help me. Help me and I will get you to safety. You will be away from Alex. Please, Donna."

"I just can't!" Donna almost shrieked before clapping her hands over her mouth.

Kate shrunk back into the seat, feeling her hope drain away.

So this was it.

"If...when they come looking for me," Kate whispered. "When they come here...Agent Hotchner or Agent Morgan, or Agent Rossi...they're going to ask you questions. They're going to be hard questions, Donna. Even if you can't help me now..." she met Donna's eyes and it was the hardest thing in the world for the other woman to meet them.

"Donna. Help me then. Tell the truth. Tell them who I was sold to. Please."

"Don't ask me that," Donna sobbed and fled from the room just before Alex entered through the outside door.

Kate was hauled outside into the cold and bitter world, thrown into the back of a pickup truck and left with Kyle staring at her as Alex went around to the front.

"You were wasting your time with my mom," Kyle said in the few moments as they waited for Alex to get in. "There have been so many women here before now..." He closed his eyes in pleasure, as if remembering them. "So many. And some of them stayed a hell of a lot longer than you did. Believe me, you were never going to get anywhere with mom."

"Why do you say that?" Kate asked tiredly.

"She likes money too," Kyle said. "And she's too afraid of my father."

Kate tried to straighten but her bonds didn't allow for it. "What about you, Kyle? Who are you afraid of?"

Kyle looked at her in disgust. "I'm not afraid of anything."

"Would you let me go even if it meant angering your father?" She asked.

Again, he cast her a look of utter disgust. "I wouldn't do that because it would lose me money, bitch," he said. "I'm not afraid of my father."

She met his eyes with defiance. "Then prove it."

* * *

Aaron Hotchner couldn't imagine what Kate was going through right now.

Through some of Kate's hard work, they'd located Eileen Banks' casefile. She'd earmarked it and set it aside for the BAU to look at later, when they returned to the investigation. Through that, they'd located Miles Hendrick's and Morgan and Rossi had gone to arrest him. Now, through Kate's hard work, they'd be able to rescue her. Mateo Cruz and Morgan were interviewing him right now. Hotch watched through the glass, JJ at his side.

"He knows who took Kate," JJ said. "You can see it in his eyes."

"Do you think we'll find her?" Hotch asked, in a voice so low she almost didn't catch the words.

"More than that," JJ said. "I know we will. We have to. And when we do..." She trailed off and her eyes grew distant. "We're going to nail him to the wall."

On the other side of the wall, Cruz asked a question and the buyer broke down.

Hotch tensed. A moment later, Cruz was outside of the room, letting the door slam behind him. "We have a name," he said. "And an address. Alex Zorgen."


	6. Chapter 6

Cruz sent Morgan, Reid and Rossi out to track down Zorgen. He flat out denied Hotch's request to go along.

"Hell no, Hotch," Cruz said, raking a hand through his already messy hair. "I cannot let you go along and you know why."

Hotch couldn't speak. He wanted to go so badly. He could feel emotions returning that he hadn't felt since Foyet and Haley and they were rising up, choking him.

Garcia stepped forward, noticing the look on his face.

"Sir..."

"I need to be alone," Hotch choked and left the round table room in a hurry, going to his office and slamming the door shut.

It was too much. It was too much like last time. Some insane psychopath had the woman Hotch loved in their grasp and Hotch wasn't going to be fast enough. Again.

God, it couldn't be happening again.

The door behind him creaked open and he couldn't even turn around to yell at the person for entering.

"Sir, it's going to be okay," Garcia said, her voice small.

"I just need a moment alone," he said.

"A moment alone is the last thing you need," she said, her voice now sharp. "God, sir, can't you see what you're doing to yourself? To the team?" She sighed in frustration. "I know what it's like to fall," she said. "I know what it's like to fall in love so hard that you can't even tell what you're doing, really, and if you're doing it right. And it hurts when the people you love are in danger and there's nothing you can do about it. But know this..you aren't the only one missing Kate. And it's not all on you this time, like it was...last time. Rossi and Morgan and Reid are out there and you know that they will stop at nothing to bring our Kate safely home."

He couldn't speak, he couldn't find the words to thank her but then her arms were sliding around him in a fierce hug.

And then Aaron Hotchner did something he almost never did.

He cried.

Garcia's insanely tall heels brought her up to his height, and so he was able to embrace her and bury his face in her shoulder for one, all to brief moment before he got control of himself again.

"Thank you," he said, pulling away. Crying, even for so brief a moment, had had hugely cathartic affects on him. He already felt better.

He didn't feel quite so raw, even though now he was rawer than ever.

Garcia looked at him and there was nothing but love in her gaze. "I just want to help," she said. "And so do JJ and Cruz. Can we go back now?"

"Yeah," he said. "Thank you," he repeated.

* * *

Rossi, Reid and Morgan had arrived at the address Hendrick's had given them and were waiting tensely outside.

"I'm going through the front; you two go around the back," Morgan instructed. Rossi and Reid proceeded, leaving Morgan with other agents as backup: Gina and Anderson.

"I'm going in," Morgan said, and the door fell down. "FBI!"

The rooms went by in a blur. The house was fairly well lit and he didn't need his flashlight until he got upstairs.

He knew instantly that there was someone up here.

He gestured to Anderson. "Come on, cover me," he said quietly and the man was behind him in an instant.

They went through the rooms slowly, methodically. They had reached the last: a bedroom. A girl's bedroom, it looked like. Pink bedspread and light purple curtains. A white painted bookshelf crammed with children's books.

Morgan frowned. He and Anderson advanced into the room cautiously, and had just made it into the center when there was a cry and a woman propelled herself from the closet, thinking she could make it to the door in time.

Morgan caught her before she had gained two steps.

Well, it was something.

* * *

"Her name is Donna. She's Alex's wife," Morgan told Reid and Rossi. "She's already given up that Alex will be coming back soon so how about you get everything out of the way, hide everything. Then we can catch him with the same net."

The two other agents nodded their agreement.

"I'll call Cruz and let him know what's going on," Rossi said, as the other agents scrambled to fill Morgan's instructions.

"Good idea," Morgan said. "Reid, can you arrange for agents to come and get Donna?"

"Of course," Reid said and Morgan turned back into the house, going through the corridors until he reached the kitchen where Donna sat handcuffed to the table, being watched by two agents.

"You guys can go for now," Morgan said. "Help everyone hide things."

"What do you want from me?" Donna said. "I didn't do anything."

"I think you have before now," Morgan said easily. "Right now, you're under arrest for aiding and abetting criminal abductions. I'm sure we can find some more charges later once we get to know each other."

Donna flinched away from him.

"Your husband's going to be coming back soon," Morgan continued. "We're going to catch him and there's going to be nothing to it. In the mean time, you can tell us where he was taking Agent Callahan."

"Go to hell," Donna said and her fierceness surprised him. "I'm not telling you damned FBI anything."

Morgan shrugged, pushing back his chair. "You'll sing a different tune later," he promised ominously and left the kitchen, gesturing for the two agents to return to watching her.

Now...it was time for a stakeout.

* * *

It was maybe an hour later that a pair of headlights lit the rural road and a pickup came into view. Morgan tensed, watching carefully as the truck stopped in front of the house.

Yes, there was definitely room to store a short, feisty FBI agent in the back of the truck, or even the back seat.

Where had they taken her?

This was hell.

They waited until Alex had left the car, along with another man.

 _Partner?_ Morgan mouthed at Reid.

 _Bobby_ , Reid mouthed back and Morgan realized that Alex's partner was the man who'd beaten and taken Kate personally.

Damn him to hell.

They waited until the two men had made it almost to the house. "FBI!" Morgan shouted. An instant later, the men were surrounded on all sides.

"Don't move, Alex," Morgan said, as the older man's hand twitched as if for a gun. "Don't do it. There's nothing you can do at this point so get your hands above your head."

"Why should I?" Alex asked.

"We could put a bullet in between your pretty eyes," Rossi said. "Would you prefer that?"

Alex smirked. "How do you find Kate then?"

"We ask him," Rossi said, gesturing to Kyle.

"I don't think so," Alex said.

It happened so fast that none of them could react. Alex's hand moved in a motion that none of them could follow and then Kyle was crying out.

"Put it down!" Morgan yelled and a bullet hit Alex's wrist, causing him to drop the knife.

Kyle was crumpling from a knife stab to the neck and Alex was scrambling for the knife again to give himself a fatal blow.

The agents were rushing forward to stop Alex and it was like time slowed down for Derek Morgan. They had to reach Alex first. There was no guarantee that Donna knew anything, and definitely not that she knew where Kate had been taken.

And her time was running out. Now that Kate had been delivered, she had a matter of hours left.

Shit.

Morgan tackled him and Alex fell to the ground. He could hear the clamor around him as medics were called on to tend to Kyle but Morgan had a feeling it was already too late.

"You're under arrest for the abduction of an FBI agent," Morgan panted, wrestling Alex's hand behind his back and clamping handcuffs on.

"Not...fucking...happening," Alex said. "Do you really think I didn't see this coming?"

What did Alex have up his sleeve now?

No. In his mouth.

Morgan saw Alex bite something and he cried out, trying to force the object from the man's mouth but it was too late.

He'd swallowed.

Morgan would bet anything that no amount of stomach pumping would save the man now, because someone like Alex Zorgen would leave absolutely nothing to chance.

He'd be dead before they managed to administer an emetic.

Still, he found himself with his fingers in the man's mouth, trying to make him gag and force him to cough up the pill but already Zorgen was convulsing.

Already it was too late.

Both men were dead.

Now only Donna was left.

* * *

When Hotch heard the news, he felt his like his whole world shook. No. This couldn't be happening.

"Is there anyone left?" He managed to ask.

"Donna, Alex's wife," Morgan said, his voice weary. "God, Hotch, I tried. I even had my fingers down his throat..." He could hear the expletive on the tip of Morgan's tongue but Morgan managed to swallow it.

"I don't know if she knows anything," Morgan said baldly. "I have to tell you that, Hotch. She may or may not have managed to speak to Kate but even so, this is a woman who's probably seen dozens of women just like Kate pass through Alex's grips through the years. It's classic Stockholm syndrome and to make it worse, I think that 'Bobby' was her son."

"Which means we have no leverage now," Hotch said flatly, feeling his world again shake on its axis.

"Maybe if we play it right," Morgan said but his tone of voice was so weary that Hotch could tell Morgan had no hope.


	7. Chapter 7

When Kate woke up, she was in the back of a truck. At first she was relieved, thinking that the Zorgens had given her an accidentally small dose and she was still with them, still not transferred.

Her reality dawned on her as she tried to move, but the drug still prevalent in her system made her sluggish and her tight bonds made it even more difficult.

She fought back tears as the truck continued down a dark road. She was lying in the back seat instead of sitting. Kyle was nowhere in sight. The stereo system was different.

The driver's head was different.

She closed her eyes, trying to fight back desperate sobs. She'd been transferred. She'd been transferred and she'd missed one of her best opportunities to get away from these bastards. Alex had covered his tracks too well. She'd been more than out cold when it had happened.

And now...

Kate, the eternal optimist, slowly came to terms with the fact that it was very unlikely she'd get out of this alive.

* * *

Derek paced around the interrogation room. Donna refused to look at him; her arms were folded tightly over her chest. It had been thirty minutes and he still hadn't gotten a word out of her.

He looked at the glass; he couldn't see Hotch but he knew that the Unit Chief would be standing on the other side of it, watching.

Derek left the room, not even glancing at Donna.

"Hotch, I think we're going to have to mention that Alex killed Kyle," Derek began without preamble.

Reid and JJ were the first to speak.

"No!" They both exclaimed.

"If we tell her, she has no reason to tell us where Kate is, whether Alex was the one to kill her or us," JJ said. "She might think we killed both of them and are just telling lies! She has nothing to gain if Kyle is dead."

Reid nodded. "I think it would be extremely unlikely for her to give us any information if we told her of Kyle's death," he said, placing a file on the table. "It's all in here. I've been reading up on it."

"But she'll feel betrayed by her lover, the father of her son," Rossi began.

"She has no reason to trust us," Cruz interrupted. "It's a close call, Morgan."

The Section Chief raked a hand through already messy hair. "What about you, Garcia? Are you making any progress on Alex's computers?"

"Not really," Garcia answered, videoing in from the Zorgen house where she was camping out with Hotch, Anderson and other agents from the Unit. "Everything is just super encrypted. It's like if I make one misstep, everything will just be gone." She groaned. "And another wall! This freak knew how to write passwords."

"You can't just use a password bypass program?" Rossi asked. "Surely those exist. Surely you've brought them into existence yourself."

"Thank you for the compliment, but I have to play by Zorgen's set of rules right now and it's going to be hard enough to get in even doing that," Garcia replied.

Hotch moved into view on the camera. "What about you? Are you getting anywhere with Donna?"

"We have a decision to make, Aaron," Cruz began. "One that I'm going to give to you."

There was a moment when Hotch looked terrified; then his expression steeled and he stood up straighter. "What?"

"Do we tell Donna about Kyle's death and lose any potential leverage," Morgan began, folding his arms. "With the chance that she sees Alex for what he really was and hope that she'll give up where Kate was being taken? Or do we go with what we've got?"

Hotch thought. He stepped out of view of the camera and Reid and Rossi just looked at each other for a moment. JJ stared at the file in front of her, her eyes not seeing what was written there, and Cruz cursed under his breath.

"Do it," Hotch said. "Tell her that Alex killed Kyle, and then himself. Tell her she's all alone in the world and that she's going to go to jail for as long as we can put her there...unless she helps Kate."

"Got it," Morgan said.

"Take JJ with you," Hotch ordered, and Cruz didn't veto it, though it was his investigation. "Give Donna a remembrance of approaching motherhood. Of how her son was the only good part of her life with Alex Zorgen. How he took him from her, as he took everything from her in the end."

* * *

"Do you want some water?" JJ asked as she stepped in, joining Morgan in the interrogation room. "I know you've been sitting here for awhile."

"I'm fine," Donna said. She watched JJ's progress as the heavily pregnant woman maneuvered herself into a chair. "Why are you still working? Can't they get someone else to take your spot?"

"I don't want to leave," JJ laughed. "Not yet, but thank you for the concern."

"I have no idea why you'd want to stay," Donna said, avoiding looking at Derek. It was obvious that he had become the FBI presence in the room...Kyle's enemy...her enemy.

"I like helping people," JJ related. "I like to help women, like you, get out of terrible situations."

"My situation wasn't terrible," Donna denied. "I loved my son and I had a certain attachment to Alex too. He...took care of me in a way that no one else ever did."

"How so?" JJ asked softly.

"He was one of the first men to love me," Donna said. "One of the first men to see me as beautiful."

"Didn't that come at a price, though?" JJ asked, leaning forward. "Didn't being seen as beautiful by Alex mean no man ever seeing you again? Didn't it mean night after night of being raped—"

"It's not rape if we're married," Donna said.

"For the record, it is," JJ said, her voice like steel. "But Donna, you never married him."

"I did!" She insisted, her voice getting higher. "Maybe not on paper but who needs that! I married him in my _heart_."

"Did he marry you in return?" Derek asked, breaking into the conversation.

Donna met his eyes with what could only be called hatred.

"Did Kate talk to you?" JJ asked before Donna could speak. "Did you see Kate? Did you talk to her?"

"I did," Donna said. "But like I told her. I'm not telling you a damn thing while my son is in danger. Where _is_ he? Where did you take him? Let me see him! Is he in danger?"

She was almost screaming by the end of it. JJ resisted the urge to reach across the table and shut the woman up.

"Kyle is in no danger," JJ said. "We don't have him in custody."

Donna almost immediately quieted down. "What do you mean? He got away? Are your agents out looking for him, hunting him down like a dog?"

"No one is searching for him," Derek said and Donna again relaxed.

"So what? You let him go?" She asked.

"We let him go free," Derek agreed. "Or Alex did."

"Donna, your husband...Alex...he murdered Kyle and then he committed suicide himself."

JJ spoke the words slowly, making sure Donna heard every single life crushing word.

It took a few seconds.

"I don't believe you," Donna said, and then she was screaming, lunging across the table. "Shut up! Don't tell me lies! Kyle isn't dead! He can' t be!"

JJ darted out of Donna's way just in time, getting up so quickly she was surprised her body managed it. Derek moved forward and pinned Donna's flailing arms behind her back as the woman sobbed.

"No, no, no," Donna cried.

"We can show you pictures," JJ said loudly, above the woman's sobs. "We can prove it."

"Not Kyle, not Kyle," Donna begged. "No. No!"

"Alex killed him," Derek said, and slowly released Donna as she grew limper; stopped fighting.

"I know who bought Kate," Donna said, after a long minute where the only sound was her crying. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose on her shirt before Derek could give her the kleenex box. "He's a man named Lucas. I don't know the last name and I don't know where he lived. But he was one of Alex's...regulars." Her voice broke.

JJ and Morgan looked at each other, both realizing that they were still very far away from a full answer.

"We need a bit more than that," JJ began.

"I don't know more than that, other than what he did," Donna said.

Against his better judgment, Morgan asked the question hanging in the air. "What does Lucas do to his victims? How long does Kate have?"

"Maybe another hour," Donna said listlessly. "I don't remember exactly."

"What does he do?" JJ asked.

* * *

"Garcia, I need to check cases where the victims were found with their hands cut off, and their ankles," JJ said, bursting back into the room.

"I'm already on it, Cruz gave me the info," Garcia said, pounding away at her keyboard. "Still, he also said Donna gave Kate an hour."

"I know we need more," JJ said, her voice almost sharp. "Derek's trying, one more time."

Derek burst from the interrogation room. "She gave me Alex's password to an encrypted document that has Lucas's address on it," he shouted.

That was when everything became a blur, of Garcia asking for the information and Morgan passing it along even as the team suited up to go into the fray.

It was a moment before Garcia's use of a _very_ explicit swear word got their attention.

"What?" Cruz asked, as Morgan, Rossi and Reid paused in putting on their Kevlar.

"Hotch just left," Garcia said. "Anderson told me. He took the car and just _left_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: In the episode (10x23: The Hunt) Meg is bought by Colin Dupley. Kate, in this story, is not, because Colin's preferences were towards younger women.


	8. Chapter 8

Kate was taken inside a workshop. She made her body hang limp in the man's arms, and tried to lose herself as he placed her on a table.

Preservation instincts kicked in. She knew she'd never make it but she just had to try.

"What's your name?"

The man jumped, he was so startled. Maybe he'd thought her to still be out from the drugs.

"Tell me," she urged, making her voice gentle. "I'm Kate."

"You're FBI and that's all that matters," he said gruffly.

"But who are you in ways that matter?" Kate wondered.

"I'm Lucas," Lucas admitted. "And you don't need to talk. It'll go easier for both of us if you just be quiet."

She was quiet then, watching him. He was a big man. He had huge arms.

"Do you actually want to do this?" She asked.

"Of course," he grunted, making a show of pulling out items and brandishing weapons. She fought back her revulsion and terror and didn't let it show in her eyes. She didn't let him see it.

"You don't act like it," she commented.

"It's not something I want!" He finally exploded. "It's just something I have to do. It's something I've just always had to do."

"But you don't have to," she whispered, letting tears come to her eyes. "Lucas, you can still change. There are programs now. There is still healing to be found."

"Behind bars," Lucas grunted. "I'll take damnation and hell if it means getting the opportunity to slice you apart."

"Why?" She asked him, testing her bonds.

"Because I have to," he said, after a long moment. "If I don't...it's like my mind splits."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He stared at her then. "Don't be," he said. "How can you be sorry for me? It won't change anything. Victims have done this before. Young Mrs. Murphy...I would have let her go. But the urge was too strong. I wanted to let her go. She was the only woman who was ever nice to me, treated me like a human being. But this..." He held up his hand. "This was stronger than I am."

"And if thy right hand causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body go into hell," Kate quoted.

"I've heard that verse all of my life," Lucas said. "And that's what I've been doing all along."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I'm going to cut your hands off," Lucas replied. "And then your feet. And then I'm going to throw you in a lake, still alive, weighted down with stones."

He had a manic, excited look on his face. "And nothing you say will stop me from doing this."

He looked around the workshop. "I'm thirsty," he announced suddenly. "I'd tell you to stay there but you can't move anyway. I might as well take my time on you. Have fun, Kate."

Kate watched as the workshop went dark, as Lucas departed. In her still hazy, drugged mind, she suddenly remembered something.

Kyle's face, near to hers. Regret playing across it...maybe.

She felt like it was trying to tell her something. She felt like her brain was telling her a way to get out of this mess and she was just too stupid to figure out what it was.

Then she felt it. She tugged her hands apart and the handcuffs parted. Good god.

He'd unlocked her handcuffs.

He'd given her a fighting chance.

* * *

_"Kate?"_

_"Bobby! That is your name, right?"_

_"Yes, it is. Listen, I hate to bother you but I think I just locked myself out. Can I call the landlord on your cell?"_

_"I guess so. Let me get it."_

_"Thanks so much. You've really saved my life."_

_"Don't even mention it. I can't count the number of times I've been in a similar situation."_

_"Oh please. You're so competent looking, I bet you've never done a stupid thing in your life. What, are you FBI?"_

_"Oh, I don't think so. Don't be silly. And I have done a lot of foolish things."_

_"It didn't hurt your looks."_

_"Bobby, you're going to make me blush. And shouldn't you have called the landlord by now?"_

_"Kate, I think I forgot his phone number."_

_"Well, he's in my phone book. Here, give the cell back. Okay. Here he is now."_

_"Hey, Mr. Osborne? It's Bobby. Yeah, that Bobby. I think I'm locked out. Can you bring another key? Thank you so much. What? Yeah, this isn't my phone. That got locked in the apartment too...What? Oh. A friend lent it to me."_

* * *

A friend.

She wondered how true that was, as she brought her legs up to her chest and careful maneuvered off of the high table. The various knives and saws around the workshop gave her an easy way out of the ropes around her ankles.

She listened hard and could almost hear music playing upstairs but didn't want to risk going up.

Instead, she looked around the basement workshop, straining her eyes in the dark room to see if she could find something...anything that offered her a way out.

Then she spotted it. It was covered, disguised, but there was no mistaking what it was.

A window.

* * *

Rossi, Reid and Morgan fairly flew from the FBI buildings at Quantico, racing to the SUV and catapulting into it.

"Give me the address, Garcia," Morgan shouted as he spun the car around, the wheels squealing.

"We can't let history repeat itself," Rossi said, almost under his breath.

They knew what had happened the last time Hotch had gone off by himself. His wife had still died and Hotch had narrowly avoided completely losing himself in the aftermath that followed.

No matter what happened, they had to reach Lucas's house before Hotch did.

Otherwise, they couldn't be sure what the cost might be this time.


	9. Chapter 9

Hotch's mind was racing as he gunned the engine. He'd heard the address and something in his mind had just turned off...or on. He was finally on the way.

Checking the GPS, he realized that the rest of his team would probably get there before he did, which was definitely a good thing.

Images swam into his mind of reaching Haley first...of walking inside the house...of the aftermath that followed, bloody and bleak.

That couldn't happen again. He knew that Rossi, Reid and Morgan's presence would make sure of that.

But that didn't mean he didn't want to get to Kate ASAP. Get to her and hold her close.

There was definitely a lot that they had to talk about. At least now he could at least profile why she'd decided to hand in her resignation...the text messages on the phone Reid had found confirmed that profile and now he just had to talk to her. Let her know that it was _fine_. Everyone knew. It was out in the open and it was _fine_.

Nothing had to change in their relationship.

Absolutely nothing.

* * *

_Kate was standing by Jack, and when he reached up to shake her hand, she smiled. "This was a nice surprise," she said. "Was it your idea or your Aunt's?"_

_"It was mine," Jack said shyly. "I thought dad would be here."_

_"We didn't realize that the rest of the team had gone out," Jessica explained._

_"Well, like I said, they should be back any minute," Kate replied._

_"Actually, we are back," Hotch announced, a smile on his face from having watched the two interact. "Come here, Jack."_

_The boy ran to his father's arms and Kate folded her own, smiling at the scene, as did the rest of the team behind Hotch and Jessica._

_"I wanted to say hello and tell you something," Jack said rapidly. "I got a prize for my essay today."_

_"You wrote an essay?" Hotch said, delight in his voice. "And got a prize...I knew you were your mother's son. She loved to write."_

_"Well, I don't love it, but it can be okay," Jack said, taking his father's hand._

_"And you got to meet Kate, our newest member," Hotch said. "What do you think of her? Is she as fun as Prentiss?"_

_Jack considered Kate seriously for a moment. "She's okay," he answered._

_After Jack and Jessica had departed, Kate approached him. "So, is okay a high compliment or the worst placement possible? Or, you know, somewhere in between?"_

_Hotch outright grinned at the question, and at how Kate was asking it; how nervous she was. "Okay is okay," he teased. "Don't you know what okay means? You pass muster, Kate. That's high enough in Jack's meter of opinions."_

_"Thanks," she said, and then lingered by the door. "Do I...pass muster in your opinion?"_

_"As an agent? Certainly," Hotch said, bringing a file from the bookshelf and placing it on his desk._

_"And as a person?" Kate asked shyly and Hotch glanced up at her, caught for a moment by the look in her eyes._

_"Definitely," he said, his voice almost catching._

_"As a woman?" Kate breathed, almost not daring to voice the words, Hotch could tell._

_He stared at her, caught by her spell. "I..."_

_"Sir, you wanted the new report," Garcia said, coming in through the open door._

_"Gotta go," Kate said and darted from the room._

* * *

"Hotch, are you there?" Rossi spoke into the earpiece.

"I'm here," Hotch said. "I'm probably twenty minutes behind you."

"Yeah, we realized that," Rossi said. "It was a bit of a relief when we did."

"I know," Hotch said quietly. "Are you getting near?"

"We're about ten minutes away," Rossi replied. "We're formulating a game plan. Will it be the usual smackdown?"

"Yeah, I guess," Hotch said. "If I'm not there, I can't advise on that. Did Cruz go along?"

"He sent us out alone with his blessing," Rossi assured him. "Well, we did radio some police cars. They're about five minutes behind us. We'll be okay on that front."

"Good," Hotch said. "Just use your instincts. I'll be there ASAP."

"I know you will, Aaron," Rossi replied. "But don't worry. We'll get Kate for you. Don't worry."

"That's an impossible task," was Hotch's terse rejoinder. "But thanks anyway."

His line cut out and Rossi sighed as he looked at the other occupants of the SUV.

"We'll get there in time," Morgan said, his flat voice brooking no argument.

"And if we don't?" Reid dared to voice; the first one.

"I think we got the information in time," Rossi said. "Admittedly, we don't know the exact transfer point for Lucas and the Zorgens, but considering the time frame, I think Lucas probably only got back to his home about an hour ago. If Kate is smart, and we know that she is, she'll bargain for time...and Lucas probably doesn't expect us. Alex's deals before now were always watertight. And didn't Garcia say upon looking it up that the other victims of Lucas were killed slowly? One hand at a time?"

"Kate will still be Kate less a hand," Reid quipped and then realized how that sounded. He slumped back into his seat, placing a hand on his forehead.

"We'll get there in time," Morgan said. "Kate's not going to lose a hand and that's final."

He shot warning glances at both of them and the two fell quiet. Sometimes it didn't pay to argue with Derek Morgan.

* * *

JJ and Garcia looked at each other over the camera. "Do you think they'll make it?" JJ asked, rubbing her stomach in frustration.

"Jayje, there's no reason to feel guilty," Garcia said.

"It's not guilt, just the desire to be there to help Kate out," JJ said. "I hate that I'm back here. It's like being a liaison again...there was a reason I took the open profiler's spot when I returned."

"I know, believe me I know," Garcia returned. "You did your job, though. That's all anyone asks."

"I know," JJ said quietly. "We need to schedule some kind of girl's night out when Kate's rescued and Em's back for Michael's birth."

"We do," Garcia said matter-of-factly. "I'll call Emily right after we're done here."

"I'll call Alex," JJ said. "We'll make it a night."

"Deal," Garcia agreed.

Cruz had followed the conversation from afar, standing by the interrogation room and looking in on Donna. He smiled to hear the women's words. Hope was a damned powerful thing. He was glad that JJ had healed enough that she was able to make these kind of plans in the face of danger again.

He looked at her pregnant stomach and his smile widened. JJ deserved that happiness again.

* * *

They reached the house, and the squad cars pulled up behind them, lights and sirens off.

Morgan led the team ahead; Rossi on his left and Reid on his right. The cops he sent around to the back.

"We're going in," Morgan announced. "FBI!"

Reid turned the knob and Morgan kicked it in. To his utter shock, their UnSub was standing almost right in front of them in the kitchen, staring at them.

Morgan charged. "Cover me," he yelled, as Lucas dived for the kitchen door but there were cops standing there, blocking his path.

In moments, they had Lucas in custody.

"Where's Kate?" Morgan asked, moments after reading him his rights and slamming his hands into cuffs.

"I'm sorry, Agent," Lucas said, his eyes wild. "I'm sorry. It's too late. I killed her. She's long gone by now."


	10. Chapter 10

_"I'm sorry, Agent," Lucas said, his eyes wild. "I'm sorry. It's too late. I killed her. She's long gone by now."_

It took a moment for the words to truly sink in and then Derek Morgan almost snapped. He felt Reid's hand on his shoulder _just. in. time._ and managed to pull back.

"Search the house. I'm going outside with Reid," he panted, turning and heading outside, Reid tagging along with him.

Their flashlights spread over the dark house. There was a shed outback, and then Reid's light hit something.

"It's an outside door to the basement," he said out loud. "Want to check it out?"

"The garage first," Morgan answered and Reid nodded, going along with him.

He opened the door loudly. "Kate? You in here? Just make a sound."

He flashed his light around the room and was completely startled when an overhead light went on and lit the place completely.

"There was a light switch," Reid answered, stepping inside. There was a car; a bike. Assorted tools littered the shelves.

"Think there's room for some sort of secret passage under the car?" Morgan asked, stepping forward.

"There's nothing to indicate that," Reid denied. "I think we're looking in the wrong place."

They stepped outside again, breathing hard. "I don't want Hotch to get here before we find Kate," Reid said. "Dead or alive."

Morgan exhaled. "Shit, Reid, don't say things like that. Lucas was just trying to psych us."

"He might not have been lying," Reid said. "She could have bled out, even if it was just a hand..."

"Reid!" Morgan scolded. "Just stop."

"Fine," Reid muttered as they made their way back across the yard, back to the basement door.

"Open it," Morgan grunted and Reid almost rolled his eyes before acquiescing. What he saw was a false wall made out of black cloths.

"Jackpot," he whistled between his teeth and Morgan hurried inside after him, brushing aside the fabric.

It was definitely Lucas's workshop. There was a table; a cabinet with tools. Chains hung from the ceiling and Rossi stood in the midst of it, having just come down the stairs from the inside.

"She's not here," he said. "And...there's blood over there. I told forensics to get over here, but they won't be here for hours."

The three stared at each other, the utter horror of their situation finally sinking in.

"Oh, god no," Morgan grunted and ran outside.

Reid and Rossi flinched away from the sound of Morgan punching the house in his anger.

"She didn't have a chance, she was probably drugged," Reid stated, the words dull. His eyes were blinking rapidly and his hands clenched and unclenched.

"We need to find the body," Rossi said wearily. "There's at least no way that Lucas managed to dump her yet. She's got to be around on the property somewhere."

"Lucas owns a half dozen acres," Reid said, working hard to speak. "We might have to wait until day."

"We can't," Rossi said. "We should find her before Hotch does. No, we can't have lost her." His voice turned into a keen almost, and Reid worked to find something to say.

"I'll request a K-9 unit," he managed and left the basement.

The truth was crushing. It was too hard to take in.

Rossi left the basement and switched on his headset.

"Aaron?" He asked. "Where are you?"

"I'm about two minutes away, why do you ask?" Hotch replied.

_Turn away. Turn back. Don't come here. Please, Aaron._

"No reason," Rossi managed to say, his throat tight and switched off.

* * *

Hotch almost floored the car again after Rossi's cryptic call but managed to control himself. He pulled up to the property not a moment too soon, and jumped from the car.

There were agents and cops all over.

He didn't see any of the BAU.

"We still haven't located Agent Callahan's body; we're going to the woods next," a deputy was saying over the radio.

Hotch heard it and his heart froze.

_Agent Callahan's body._

No. No. It just couldn't be.

"We're going to the woods next," the deputy repeated. "We think that's where Lucas took her."

Hotch went back to the SUV on shaking legs, grabbed the flashlight from the glove compartment, and his gun.

And then he took off running, into the woods.

* * *

Kate's legs burned and her breath was barely even coming anymore. She leaned against a tree and tried to inhale but it was so damn hard.

"I can't go on," she panted, trying to psych herself. "But I've got to, damn it. That's final."

There was a stitch in her side; it was so painful she felt like it was burning into her.

"I have to keep going," she whispered to herself, stumbling through the woods. "Where the hell is the road?"

She crept through the trees, her legs barely carrying her anymore. How long had she even been running? She had no idea.

She paused again and listened hard to the wind rushing through the trees. Could she hear something? Were those footsteps? Was that a light?

She almost screamed; the terror was that intense and every fiber of her being told her that it was time to get help.

But it wasn't help she'd get if she made noise and called attention to herself. It was death.

She didn't want to die, she knew that now. She was going to do anything she could to keep herself alive.

For Hotch.

And the rest of the BAU, every beloved member who had welcomed her into their ranks so thoroughly.

She stumbled on, and then she knew she heard something new:

The sounds of a road.

And the sound of footsteps.

She stopped dead and she still heard running footsteps, and then there was a flashlight coming through the trees.

"No," she whispered. "No."

She broke out into a full run, surprised her body was able to take this kind of work, but it was carrying her. What people said about adrenaline was really true.

"Stop!"

The voice carried through the trees, terrifying her.

"Identify yourself!"

She almost paused, because it didn't sound like Lucas. It wasn't something he'd be likely to say. But maybe he was trying to trick her.

He yelled something again but she didn't catch what it was and then the flashlight hit her full on and she forced herself to go ever faster.

The road was getting closer and closer.

There was a car coming hurtling down it, and she wondered if she'd make it in time for them to see her.

And then she was tackled from behind, forced to the ground.

"Let me go, let me go," she begged, twisting and shoving and trying to knock them off of her. "Please," she sobbed, too tired to be strong anymore. "Please let me go."

The car went past.

Her time was up.

She realized a few things in her hazy state of mind: the arms holding her were gentle. The body was quickly shifting off and the flash light had rolled away on the dark forest floor.

"Kate?"

The voice, unutterably tender, was filled with disbelief.

Kate stopped moving, frozen.

Then she was catapulting herself through the air into Aaron Hotchner's arms, throwing her arms around his neck. She started to cry, fast and furious, loud and terrible.

"Aaron, Aaron," she managed to say, her tears soaking his shoulder in a matter of seconds. "You found me."

His arms around her were so tight she could barely breathe but she didn't care. His face was buried in her hair and he seemed to be crying somewhat too.

"I thought you were dead," he told her, his voice choked up. "Oh god, Kate."

"I thought I was going to be," Kate returned and held him ever closer.

"My life was just about ended," Hotch said hoarsely. "You don't even know, Kate."

"You saved me," Kate said, and her sobs increased. "You saved me."


	11. Chapter 11

Reid forced himself to go back down to the basement, his mind protesting at every step he took. But he would do this. For Kate's sake.

Once down there, he noticed several things his horrified brain hadn't even been able to process the first time around...

There was a small window in the corner. He stepped closer and saw duct tape was patching it. He stepped closer and saw that it had been broken. Recently.

He saw handcuffs shoved in a corner. He saw rope hanging on a wall and it was now obvious to him that it was _used_ , it had been cut.

Kate had escaped, he could suddenly feel it in his bones.

He turned and ran from the basement, desperate to share this hopeful news with Morgan.

* * *

JJ and Cruz sat in the round table room, completely silent.

"They didn't actually find a body," Garcia called out as she burst into the room. "That has to mean something."

"Hotch," JJ said dully. "He'll have arrived by now."

And again, there were no words that they could find to say.

"We're going out there," Cruz said, standing up. "Come on, you two." The two women only had to exchange a look before they followed him.

* * *

Rossi was the first to notice the abandoned SUV; the passenger door was flung open and so was the glove compartment.

And oh god, this was a BAU SUV. This was the car Hotch had driven up in.

He started for the cluster of deputies. "Hey, did anyone see a man get out of that car?" He demanded and the cops stared at him, slackjawed.

"Maybe," one offered.

"Where did he go?" Rossi said.

"I saw someone go to the woods," a female deputy offered finally.

Rossi's curse word would have burned the ears off of a nun. "Why didn't you stop him? Or tell someone!" He cursed again.

"I thought he was authorized," she offered.

Rossi's channeled his inner Hotch and the deputy shrunk back at the glare on his face.

He took off running then. "Cruz, this is Rossi," he yelled into his radio.

"I'm here, with JJ and Garcia," Cruz answered. "We're driving up now."

"Good, we'll need all the help we can get," Rossi said grimly.

"Where's Hotch?" JJ demanded, cutting in.

"That's why," Rossi replied. "He must have heard cops talking about it when he arrived because he ran to the woods."

* * *

JJ blocked the memory of last January out of her mind, of driving alone in a car and feeling like she'd fall to pieces. Besides, she wasn't alone right now. Garcia and Cruz were here. And Michael.

JJ looked down at her swollen stomach and lay her hands on top, feeling her son move within her.

"Do you feel okay?" Garcia asked from the front seat.

"Physically great," JJ said tersely. "Cruz, can't you go faster than this?"

"I've good precious cargo," Cruz said. "And I don't want to repeat history. We'll get there, Jayje."

Nevertheless, he flipped the siren on.,

The cars parted like floodwaters.

JJ thought of what might be awaiting them and suddenly didn't want to get there at all.

But that didn't matter. She pushed the feeling away from her, compartmentalized it and refused to think of it anymore.

* * *

Morgan saw Reid walking up from the basement. Oh no. "What were you doing down there?" He asked, striding forward.

"Getting better information," Reid said and grabbed Morgan's arm. "Come on."

He was literally dragging Morgan along with him. Morgan had reached his breaking point and he did not want to go back down there.

"There was a window," Reid said desperately when pulling Derek Morgan got too difficult for him to continue trying.

Morgan snapped to attention, clinging to what Reid had said with every fiber of his being. "What? Where?"

"It was broken, recently. And see this rope," Reid enthused, walking around the basement, his face shining. "I think she got out, Derek. And I don't think Lucas caught her again.'

It was then that Rossi burst into the basement. "What are you two doing down here? Hotch ran to the woods, I fear that he'll find Kate's body, he must have heard the cops talking about it when he drove up."

Morgan and Reid looked at each other. "We think she got out," they said together. "So Hotch looking for her could be a good thing."

Rossi blinked a few times, and then he just kind of crumpled. "Oh, mother, help me," he murmured, crossing himself.

* * *

Hotch helped Kate to her feet, his arm tight around her. "How do you feel? Can you walk?" He asked, his voice tender.

Kate nodded. "I think so," she said, wiping away one last stray tear. Hotch tilted her chin up.

"It's okay, you're fine," he whispered and pressed his lips to hers.

She flinched away from him.

"Kate?" He asked, frowning.

"Please don't touch me like that," she begged. "The Zorgens..."

Hotch's heart froze. "What did they do to you?" He growled. "Did they rape you?"

Kate's face was white as she nodded. "Where are they?" She asked, voice trembling. "How did you find me?"

"Through Miles Hendricks, firstly," Hotch said, placing his arm very lightly around her and leading her through the forest. "He gave us Zorgen's address and Morgan, Reid and Rossi waited for them there when they...transferred you to Lucas. As soon as Alex realized there was no way out, he stabbed his son and poisoned himself."

"Oh my god," Kate said. "He killed Kyle?"

"Yes," Hotch said. He studied her face again. "I'm not saying he was in the right, but why care about Kyle? He was almost more involved with your abduction than Alex was.". He stared at her again. "Did both of them rape you?"

Kate could barely nod. Hotch cursed.

"They're lucky they're dead," he said ominously.

"Kyle...Kyle, he saved my lifr, in the end," Kate forced out. "Hotch. He unlocked my handcuffs before I was transferred. That was how I escaped from the basement. After...even with everything he did to me, I wanted to thank him." She looked up at Hotch as tears streamed down her face. "I would not be alive right now, free right now, if he hadn't made that one good choice," she wept. "Maybe we are who we choose to be, and maybe he did innumerable bad things, but in that one moment, he saw me as human. And he gave me my life back."

* * *

Rossi, Reid and Morgan started for the forest, flashlights in hand, when two dark figures emerged. Moments later, Kate was being embraced on all sides.

"Katherine Callahan, you took your time," Rossi said, voice choked.

"Speak for yourself," Kate replied, her voice muffled against Reid's sweater.

"You made it out," Reid whispered, awe in his voice.

"It's damn good to see you, Kate," Morgan said. He looked and Hotch and the Unit Chief merely shook his head.

"Where are JJ and Penelope?" Kate wondered.

"They're coming," Hotch promised, placing his hand on her shoulder. "We need to get you checked out."

"Yeah," Kate said hoarsely. Reid started off with her tucked under his arm like a baby animal.

"She'll need a rape kit," Hotch said darkly to Morgan and Rossi before following Reid and Kate to the cluster of emergency vehicles.

* * *

JJ's heart leapt in her throat as they crested the hill. It sang when the first person she saw was Hotch.

"Kate's really okay," Garcia bubbled.. "She made it."

The clock read 1:58 a.m.

They'd gotten her back. They'd beat the clock.

Tick tock.


	12. Chapter 12

The exams took forever. Kate agreed to everything the nurse asked, and finally, everything was over. There were no orderlies in her room; no worried doctors. Her rape exam was over and she felt new respect for the women who went through things like this.

She had wanted company during the rape exam, but didn't know how to ask for it. JJ was so heavily pregnant; she didn't want her standing so long and while Garcia would never have said no, Kate also felt that her bubbly friend would also simply rather not.

And Hotch.

He'd barely looked at her since they'd escaped from the woods together...Touched her, yes. His hands were all over her; resting gently on her shoulder while they talked to the medics, holding her hand during the ambulance ride and gently touching her arms as she was taken inside.

She hadn't known how to ask him to stay for it.

As she dozed, there was a knock at her door. "Come in," she immediately called, and Garcia poked her head in.

"Hi, can I—Yeah, you just said I could," she whispered, hurrying into the room. "Oh, Katie. How are you?"

"I'd be better if you didn't call me Katie," Kate joked, and Garcia's eyes lit up with tears.

"After everything, you still have your sense of humor," she whispered, moving closer. "I am so sorry that this happened to you."

Kate shrugged, letting Garcia's hand slide into hers, and she gripped it tight, like the lifeline it was. "I don't know, I don't know if that's how I feel about it. I feel kind of numb, like it had to happen. And now we've got so many leads on the other buyers and sellers. We'll get to close it out, everything."

Garcia made a strangled sound. "I hate hearing you talk about so positively but I guess you have to keep your sanity," she whispered.

Kate nodded. "You...a man shot you once, didn't he?"

Garcia closed her eyes against the memory. "Yeah, he did."

"Can you honestly say that you don't forgive him? Because I know you, Penelope."

Garcia sighed. "I guess...maybe along the way I did forgive him."

Kate smiled weakly. "I'm not saying I forgive them but I am saying that I learned something. And that maybe it was inevitable. I...I don't know if I believe in God, but there was a priest I once knew. He always said that God would only allow evil if he knew that good would come from it. That's how I feel right now."

Garcia nodded solemnly. "Maybe you're more right than you know," she whispered. "Listen, as soon as you're feeling up to it, I want to smuggle some chocolate in here so what's your favorite brand?"

"Dove. Could you smuggle in some cat videos too?" Kate asked. "I've been dying to watch some kittens skidding around corners and making impossible jumps and getting caught in the curtains."

"You bet," Garcia said.

* * *

JJ slipped inside her room next. Kate wondered if there was a limit placed on visitors that she didn't know about or if the team was just spacing it out themselves.

"Listen, JJ, do I need to give another statement?" Kate wondered, after a few minutes of talking.

"I'm not sure," JJ said. "You'll have to talk to Cruz, I know that."

Kate sighed. "What's new on that front? Am I...is Hotch in trouble?"

JJ shrugged. "Not yet, as far as I can tell. Cruz didn't bat an eye during the whole investigation, it was obvious that he was just holding back until the end of it. Now that it's over...I suppose he will be talking to you two soon."

"How tough is he?" Kate asked. "I've heard that Strauss really cracked down on things like interteam relationships, but I haven't heard about anything like that in regards to Cruz."

"Matt's a great guy; there's no doubt there," JJ said, her voice a bit wistful. "He'll be fair. And if that means asking you to step down..."

"I'd do it," Kate said. "You guys need Hotch more than you need me."

JJ moved her hand to Kate's forehead, as if feeling for a fever.

"What are you doing?" Kate wondered, after a moment.

"I don't know, checking your temperature," JJ said. "I just need that extra confirmation that you're okay, you know?"

"I think I might," Kate said, a lump in her throat.

* * *

Reid came in next, holding one of Garcia's many electronic gadgets: a brand new I-Pad.

"I just remembered why I hate these things," Reid muttered, before closing the door fully behind him and walking forward. "Hey, Kate. How do you feel right now?"

"Physically, mentally or emotionally?" Kate asked.

"How about all three?" He asked gently. "On a scale of 1 to 10, with one being the worst."

Kate sighed. "I don't know. Maybe a four physically, because I just can't feel right now, so it's weirding me out. A five mentally, and a three emotionally."

Reid nodded. "Why such low scores?" He asked, after a moment.

"I thought you'd ask that," Kate said. "I think it's because I don't know what's going to happen. To me, to Hotch, to the Unit. I can't believe I let myself do such a stupid thing."

"As the puzzling saying goes, it takes two to tango," Reid said gently. "I don't doubt that Hotch knew exactly what he was getting into when he started...things with you."

"That doesn't mean either of us were prepared for the consequences," Kate whispered.

Reid nodded. "I know a lot of really good therapists, psychologists who deal with victims of trauma. You'll need someone to talk to, someone who isn't on the team, and beyond just the guy you'll talk to to get recertified for the team. Just let me know 'when' and I'll give you their names."

Kate nodded. "I will," she promised. "Thanks, Reid."

He stood up, demeanor quiet. "Kate...too many good friends have left this unit simply because they couldn't handle it anymore. I...I don't want you to be one of them."

"I don't want to be," she said.

He looked at her; his gaze was intense. "Then don't let yourself," he whispered. "Really let people in. Tell us when it's too much."

"I know," she told him.

Reid nodded.

* * *

Rossi came in next, looking a bit out of place. "Hey, it's my new partner in crime," he joked, pulling up a chair. "How'd you let yourself get in here?"

"I tripped over my own feet," she joked back.

"It's always terrible when that happens," he replied solemnly. "Oh, god, Kate. I can't believe we let this happen to you."

"You didn't let anything happen to me," she replied fiercely. "I don't blame anyone. Not myself, not God...maybe not even the Zorgens." She shifted on the bed. "What do you think of me right now?"

"I think you're a smart, hilarious, beautiful woman who would do anything to make the right thing happen," Rossi said.

"And...you don't think less of me for...?" Kate trailed off.

She could tell that Rossi saw the pain in her eyes and he reached for her hand, massaging it between his. "No, never. As I said, you always try to do the right thing. So I don't think you having a relationship with Hotch is wrong in any sense of the word." He then winked at her. "Besides, the main reason there are so many anti-fraternization rules in the FBI...and the BAU in particular...that might be because of me."

"Rossi!" She protested, letting herself laugh with him, and it felt so good. "Thank you for that," she panted, after a sustained moment of hilarity. "For a moment there, I was afraid I'd never laugh again."

"Oh, Hotch wouldn't let that happen," Rossi vowed. "He may not look like it, but he knows how to make people smile. I promise, Kate."

She smiled. "Do you...what do you think will happen to us next?"

Rossi shrugged, his hand slipping from hers. "I know that I will fight a very good fight before either of you is taken off of the unit," he said. "Now I think that Cruz needs to talk to you before visiting hours are up, so let me just slip away." He pressed a kiss to her hand, and smiled. "You're safe, Agent Katherine Callahan. That's enough for all of us right now."

* * *

She didn't really know Cruz; their paths hadn't crossed enough for her to have an opinion of him.

Nevertheless, despite the _good_ stories she'd heard about him, a panic seized her heart when he walked in. "Hello, Kate," he greeted, his face unshaved and his jacket messy.

"You look like you've been up all night," Kate said. "Hello, Section Chief Cruz."

"Call me Matt," Cruz said, shaking off the title. "How are you feeling? Up for another interview?"

"I'd rather do it tomorrow but I guess we should get it over with...my memory is freshest now, I guess," she said.

He smiled as he sat down in one of the chairs next to the bed. "We can talk for a few minutes first. Don't be scared of me right now, Kate, just because I'm here in my official capacity. I promise you that I'll be fair and I'm definitely not judging you on the decisions you made concerning one Aaron Hotchner."

Kate opened her mouth to speak but Cruz shook his head. "Don't bother. I've gone over your relationship with Hotch. I don't need anything from you on that front. I just want to talk about the kidnapping ring."

Kate's eyes widened, wondering what this could mean. "What did Hotch tell you?" She blurted.

"That doesn't matter, because that doesn't need to be addressed yet," Cruz said. "I promise you that no decisions have been made on that front. Can we talk about California now? Bakersfield?"

Kate sighed. "Okay. Let's talk."

* * *

Cruz's interview seemed to take forever but she appreciated the extra pains he took for her.

Finally, he departed from the room, patting her shoulder before he left. "You did a good job, Agent Callahan. Don't forget that."

Now she was alone again, heart aching with the renewed pain that Cruz's digging into her memories had brought up.

The door opened. She didn't turn her head, she just felt tired.

"Hey, Kate," a voice greeted and she smiled just from hearing him.

"Aaron," she said and suddenly he was at her side, taking her hands in his. His eyes drank her in, as if cataloguing her.

"Hi," she whispered shyly.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" He wondered, his hands moving over her covered legs for a moment.

"I haven't lost my legs, if that's what you're wondering," Kate sighed. His touch was emotionally healing, at the very least. His hands went up to her hairline, caressing her head, and she leaned into it.

"I love you," he breathed. "I didn't know how much you meant to me until after I got your text." He shook his head. "Pepper."

She sighed. "Cruz said you talked to him about us, that I didn't need to add anything," she began.

Hotch nodded. "You really don't have to worry about it," he said. "Neither of us are in trouble."

She bit her lip. "Hotch, I don't know...I don't know if I can keep going like this."

"What do you mean?" He wondered, brushing his thumb over her lower lip.

"I need time," she said. "To heal."

"I know," Hotch agreed. "You can take all the time in the world. Please don't think you have to hurry back to work...come back when you're ready. And..." His gaze darkened for a millisecond. "It's also okay if you're never ready."

"I'll be ready," Kate promised. "You don't need to worry about that. JJ's got, what, a month left? I'm not going to rush myself but I'd like to be back when she goes on her maternity leave. There's no reason for you guys to be down two agents."

Hotch smiled. "You sound so much like your old self," he whispered. "I'm so glad it didn't change you..."

His smile froze, and so did his hand. "You...Are you really okay with what happened to you?"

"I'm sure that all will out eventually," she whispered. "I've seen so many women suffering from PTSD that I don't doubt it will come eventually. But for right now...I'm fine."

He nodded. "So what's this all about? What are you trying to tell me?"

"I want..." Her voice trailed off. "Can you...you guys still have Donna in custody, right?"

Hotch nodded, his gaze growing serious.

"I don't know if I can look at her again," Kate said, voice breaking. "I don't know if I could handle that. But...I need you tell her something for me. Aaron, Kyle saved my life. Just tell her that. That in the end..." A sob almost choked her. "In the end, he did the right thing. Give her that comfort, Aaron, please."

"Of course I will," Hotch promised.

"And the other thing..." Kate began.

"What is it?" Hotch asked, voice tender.

_I want to break up. I still want that. I'm sorry._

"It can wait until tomorrow," she finally decided.

He nodded, trusting her.

"Just why didn't you tell me, Kate?" He asked, his hand tightening on hers. "Why did you just avoid everything?"

"I would have told you, I wanted to, but I was afraid for your position," she said.

He shook his head. "I chose _you_ ," he said. "That night on the airplane, I saw a clear choice and I made a gamble, Kate. I'll stand by that. No matter what."

She nodded.

"I want you to promise me something," he said. "Before I go. If there's ever... _ever_...a time that you just need to talk...or take a break...just say so. I've made this offer before. I stand by it, Kate."

"I..."

He raised an eyebrow. "Pinky swear," he said, solemnly raising his smallest finger.

She raised her own and linked it with his. His touch was like fire, and she was so afraid of getting burned.

"Pinky swear," she whispered.

* * *

She was beginning to think that he wasn't even there, but about ten minutes before visiting hours were over, Derek Morgan slipped into her room. "I got caught talking to some people," he apologized. "I'm sorry for taking so long."

"I don't mind, it's just that visiting hours will be over soon," Kate said.

"I know a doctor," Derek said slyly. "She'll let me stay after hours."

"Okay," Kate agreed, laughing. "You're in good with the staff, huh?"

"Definitely," Derek said. "Damn, Kate. You look too good after being tortured. How do you do that?"

She sighed. "I've seen myself in a mirror, and no, I don't look that good."

"You do," Derek said. "You're at your most beautiful. You've got this glow, Kate."

"I don't believe you," Kate continued.

"Yeah, well, okay," Derek said. "But you do."

He straightened. "I need to say something," he said. "I...I should have had your back, Kate. I shouldn't have let the ring matter drop. I shouldn't have let you slide into the cracks." He sighed. "I've failed the people I love too many times in my life. I was so scared I was going to fail you."

"Hey, you could never fail me," she said. "No matter what. I know that you'd always try your best, forever and always."

He nodded. "I couldn't bear to lose the one _short_ brunette that I know," he said.

"You had to put that in there," she groaned, and he just laughed, brushing his hand over hers. "I've gotta be going," he said. "Savannah gets off her shift soon and when she does, I'll have no one to protect me from the nurses trying to kick me out. Stay safe, Kate. Is...Is Hotch staying with you?"

"No, he has to get home to Jack," Kate said. "Jessica couldn't get out of something."

"Got it," Derek said. "In that case, I'll have an extra word with your guard."

"He's only a 'just in case' measure, right?" Kate asked. "Because I really don't think anyone is coming after me."

Derek nodded. "Just in case. We want to keep you safe, Kate."

"I know," she whispered.

The words hung in the air long after he was gone.

And she did know. She could feel the bond that knit this team together and it was one made of love...of respect and joy in each other's lives...

And it would be what helped her to heal in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End :) Also Derek's line about Kate glowing doesn't mean she's pregnant because she isn't lol. 
> 
> Summary for the sequel to Tick Tock (Yes, I still have more planned, but it just made sense to move it into another story.) :
> 
> Title: Pinky Swear.
> 
> Summary: They both know that they have healing to do. For the sake of the team, Kate and Hotch break off their budding relationship after the events in Tick Tock. 
> 
> I originally wrote that summary for Pinky Swear in 2016 so honestly, at this point, I would not get my hopes up that I ever write it. Oops.


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